Jesuit who inculturated liturgy for Bengal dies

By Francis Sunil Rosario

Kolkata: The Church in India has mourned the death of an innovative Jesuit missionary who had served the Bengal mission for more than six decades.

Father Jean Engelbert died September 7 in Belgium, his native land. He was 91.

Church leaders in West Bengal say that the Jesuit missionary’s contributions to the Bengali apostolate and liturgical life were memorable. They hail him as a committed priest who had enhanced Bengali liturgy and liturgical life. His death is a great loss for Bengal, they add.

Father Engelbert was the director of liturgy for the Calcutta archdiocese when St. John Paul II visited India first time in February 1986. The Jesuit visited all parishes in the archdiocese of Calcutta to encourage the faithful to come to a mega liturgical celebration at Brigade Parade Ground. He prepared three choirs in Bengali, English and Hindi for the Mass.

Father Engelbert was born on November 7, 1929, the year of economic depression worldwide. His major part of his priestly life was spent in Bengal — 61 years. He was a Jesuit for 72 years.

He joined the Jesuit novitiate on September 15, 1948. He was ordained a priest on March 19, 1962, in Darjeeling after completing theological studies at St. Mary’s Theological College, Kurseong there.

He worked mostly among migrants in Taltola, an area in the heart Calcutta (now Kolkata). He was associated with St. Teresa’s Church and Prabhu Jishur Girja. He had also served as the parish priest of Prabhu Jishur Church, when it was erected.

He studied Bengali literature from Calcutta University. As part of his immersion in the Bengali culture he wore ‘Payjama-kurta’ in public.

Besides Bengali literature, he took interest in art and music. He knew Western music when he came to India. He learnt Rabindra Sangeet and other music traditions of Bengal.

He was a companion of Jesuit Father Robert Antoine (1914-1981), another innovative scholar in Bengali and music. Both of them attended Hindustani classical music course in Naukuchatal, managed by Divine Word Father Edmund, who had devised a music course to teach those interested during the summer months.

The center later shifted to various hill stations of Uttar Pradesh until it was settled in Pachmarhi in neighboring Madhya Pradesh. Father Engelbert was one of the pioneer students of Sangeet Sadhana Mandir, as the music school is known now.

Father Engelbert’s ordination coincided with the opening of the Second Vatican Council that had the liturgy as the first agenda. The council decided to use the local language to celebrate Mass.

The Jesuit’s contributions to Bengal liturgy included translation and encouraging new talents to compose music. They include Geet Sonchoy, a compilation of Bengali liturgical hymns (1966), Bengali Liturgical Books for daily Mass and Prayers and Psalms in Bengali (1977), Bani Bitan’ – Three year Liturgical cycles (1979), various prayers for celebrations of Sacraments in Bengali in three volumes (1995)

His masterpiece was the three-volume Book of Blessings in Bengali (1991). It is a handbook of blessings for all occasions.